what lab tests should take?

Apr 6, 2014

am in sub saharan africa and not yet on arvs i have been following the discusion concerning hiv meds and iwish to start on either complera or astripla imported from india. what lab tests should i take before i start using the above?

Response from Dr. Holodniy

If you have access to laboratory tests than a CD4 cell count (measures how much your immune system is damaged) and HIV viral load (measures how much virus is currently circulating in the blood) are two important tests to get. Another important test would be a HIV resistance test, which can determine if the virus strain you became infected with is already resistant to some HIV drugs. Depending on country, these tests may be difficult to obtain. Finally, some basic laboratory tests to measure blood cell counts, and liver and kidney function would be useful before starting and afterwards to make sure you are tolerating the medications.

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